The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Julian Schnabel's third biopic tells the tale of 'Elle' editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Almaric) who, after suffering a debilitating stroke, authored a slim memoir, 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'. This is an unusual, rich, formless and challenging film, which fits perfectly with the triumph of the human spirit theme that runs through Bauby's core text.

Performance times

Reviews & features

(12A) 112min

On 8 December 1995 Jean Dominique Bauby – the 43-year-old editor of French Elle magazine suffered a huge stroke. Twenty days later he awoke, unable to move anything apart from his mouth; he could also grunt and blink his left eyelid. He was diagnosed…

‘When I first met the director Julian Schnabel to discuss being in his version of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I remember that Julian was wearing these beautiful silk pyjamas. They were the same pyjamas that Bauby…